Author: anandnataraj

Entrepreneur, Blogger, Traveller, Pet Lover, Networker, Social Drinker, Party Animal, Movie Addict, Startup Enthusiast, Organic Gardner, Avid Reader....

Blast at Utandi


Yet another occassion and this time the reason was for Sundar becoming Father… This time it is Kavi, Karthik (Ralf), Sundar & me… This time Karthik took the role of a chauffeur & he picked everyone… Then after buying necessary things we reached Uthandi beach by 11 PM…

It was fun right from the word go… This time I fixed to target Kavi who always teases me & I found a weapon to tackle from now on ;)… But it all started from the noise we heard from the nearby beach house and imagination started playing rounds…

  • I said it must be some ghost in the house…
  • Kavi added spice to my imagination…
  • Sundar said it was Husband & Wife problem…
  • Karthik said it must be a psycho like Nadunissi Naygal (a tamil movie)…

Then we thought we must break into the house and see what is going on… But some how we got distracted & this time it was time for some photo shoots… Kavi & me posted to the instruction of our photographer Karthik and it was fun for sometime… Then it started raining heavily… We all went inside the car and had come grub and drink…

Again we came out once the rain stopped… It was real nice experience as I’ve never been thru such a wonderful situation as there was lightening always & it added light for the fun…

Then it was time for some namology gyan from Sundar & he was talking about the past of everyone of us and our spouse or would be’s…

By this time Kavi got irritated by our pranks & also he got a call from his master (wife)… He lost his mood and slowly we lost interest & we packed back… But it was a fun filled 3 hours and must thank all folks for making the day memorable… Here are moments pictured…

Day of Loony Pranks


Today there was nothing special when it came to work… So, went out to honor my friends request to join him & then take him around malls in Chennai… Some of the pranks for the day;

  • Picked up my friend from Hotel & started to Express Avenue… Took a wrong route in Usman road & it took an hour to cross that road… My friend ran to the cops and told him that a ministers son was in the car & we were let on the the wrong route bypassing all the vehicle… Crap cops didn’t even check for the genuineness in my friends claim…
  • Went to a dress store in the mall… There was a big crowd in the store  & my friend wanted to try his size… Since there was a long queue in the trial room… My friend tried his t-shirt size near the entrance… Seeing this security came running by the time it became too late… He started murmuring that he would have lost his job…
  • Then my friend went to the BSA shop & we almost negotiated and brought a cycle for his Kid… Even the cycle was packed… Other friend who was staying out came in and said that he can get 20% discount if we got it from the Factory… It really frustrated the shop keeper…
  • All the bad we did for the day got back on us… It took 45 min to get pani puri from Gangothree… But it was fun waiting & joining the mocks with pretty college checks..
  • Finally went to drop my friend in Koyembedu… There a old man was about to board a bus… Citing his pretty grand-daughter we offered to help him… Luck favored us in cops who drove the bus before we could help old man board the bus… We went to get the bus back and it was great opportunity to get linked with that girl… But luck was more on my friends side as he was traveling along with them…

Over all it was a great fun-filled day…

How to choose a MediClaim product??


My father is yet to retire and I’ll not be receiving a mediclaim as my father’s dependent anymore… It is time for me to find out a good mediclaim product in the market which might help in time of need… Not sure if I’d be in a position to negotiate the benefits my father enjoyed… My father coming from a big reputed conglomerate he was getting claims for medical prescriptions & for small clinical claims…

When I enquired with some agents they say I can claim only for hospitalization… Also I’m very much a naive when it comes to choosing an insurance product… So, if anyone can advise me on following things it will be of great help;

  • How to compare different mediclaim products?
  • Where can I find no. of players who offer mediclaim insurance?
  • How to negotiate for a better deal?
  • What all question should  I post to the agent?
  • Pls share you experience in finding the gimmicks or hidden information?
  • If I missed anything please help me by adding up right information…

Va Quarter Cutting


It was 11 + in the night when I called it a day from office… On my way back got a call from my friend who is in chennai for an official work… He requested me got get a full brandy & I couldn’t refuse his request as I’m the local boy and he had guest to be honored…

It was near Butt Road (St.Thomas Mount) that I got the call & I immediately went to Guindy where we use to get liquor at nights for double the rate… Kudos to our newly elected State government a place which was a paradise for dunked looked deserted… But legacy lives as I saw some 10 other guys who were shocked to see the place…

We were asked to goto a Bar is Earkattuthangal & when I went there I could only get Beer which my friend refused to accept… From there I was asked to goto a Bar in MGR Nagar only to return disappointed…

Then I was told there is a Bar near Butt Road where we can get it 24 / 7… From MGR Nagar it is back to square one… Finally I was able to get what my friend wanted…

From there went to my friends hotel and gave him the bottle… I was asked to accompany them… Me being a teetotaler & with loads of work to be completed tomorrow I returned home immediately…

But the whole experience looked like how it happened in the movie Va Quarter Cutting…

If you need help? ASK!!!


Yesterday I had a discussion with Sangeetha where she was telling that she was taken for granted for all the voluntary initiative she does… Then I gave her the reason why I stopped helping people because;

I’ve been a victim of helping people voluntarily… That means I volunteer to help people when they are in a situation / need / struggle without even they requesting me for help… But once they come our of the situation they never realize about the help… The problem arise when I get into a situation and expect the same reciprocations from them… These are some situations of my voluntary help;

  • Helped a lot of friends when they were in need of money… But when I was in need they washed their hands telling I gave them without they asking for help…
  • I volunteered to help a family whose car got punctured by offering my car kits to fix it… After every their job got over they left my kits on the road and they drove without any courtesy…
  • I co-founded a group during my college days where we use to run tech meetings every week… I volunteered to offer snacks & did all menial things… Over time people started treating me like a admin… Problem arose when other organizers were treated with respect…

There are a lot more situations where in I was a victim and from they I made it a point not to help people unless it is asked for…

Bro’s Birthday gets Scary


Today is Rooban’s birthday and we decided to spend the way we enjoyed last year along with Kavi… We decided to enjoy the whole night… But we had a situation this year as Kavi was not married last year and he had control over his time… This time we are thankful to his wife who granted him permission…

We got all the that is needed for a party & got some side dish from Marry Brown in ECR… We headed to Uthandi Beach assuming there would not be any disturbance from the cops… Like wise we enjoyed the whole night on the shores of uthandi beach… We had great conversation on spirituality, meditation & jaggi’s teachings…

Then came the 0’th hour and we were the first to wish our BRO… Than after some rounds & discussion we were done for the day… That is when our Kavi insisted to venture on to the shore… On venture we noticed some moment & we started kindling our thought process which started from ghost, to human, to dog, to psycho killer… Frankly I got scared but other two guys wanted to vernture deep and find out who it is…

We tried to take zoon and take a snap but all we were able to see is a white line… Immediately after that that object started to move & when we chased it started to run… It ran zig zag on the dark… We chased it and we got too curious what it was…

Then when we neared to the object and when rooban tried to click another shot… The object asked “Thanbi yenna venu Paa” (What do you want guys?)… We understood it was a human and we got excited when the person got scared seeing us…

Finally it ended a great fun & we Laughed out Loud :)… This was the perfect scary night i’ve ever had…

Tips to select a candidate…


When we talk about hiring the candidates, interview process comes up as the first thing in our mind. Without interviewing anyone, it is impossible to judge if he/she is a suitable candidate. But how does the interview process happening now in the IT industry? What time frame do we take to close a position? We do interviews and judge candidate on the following two methods only. I suddenly remember a zen story which describes the scenario better.
Now the story starts like this…..
Disciple X of a great zen guru clarifies a doubt with his master.
Disciple X: Master, I have a doubt to be clarified.
Master: Yes, goahead X.
Disciple X: What is love?
Master: Can you see a paddy field in front of you?
Disciple X: Yes master.
Master: Get inside the field and pick the tallest paddy crop of the entire field. But one condition, you can start from east to west, but you can’t turn back and see if the previous crop was a taller one than what you have in your hands.
Disciple X agreed, starts from east to west. First crop of the field seemed to be the tallest, but he had a curiosity to find the better and taller crop. He travelled much inside, saw another taller crop but still wanted to explore the best. Atlast he came to the end of west paddy field where he found that the first crop on the east field was the tallest ever he saw in the field. As he can’t turn back and check or pick the tallest he returned with the empty hands. He explained everything to his master and said he was looking for the best, but when the best has gone he couldn’t pick up again. Great zen master smiled at him and said, this is called as ‘Love’. You can’t get it back if you lose to choose once.
Then, disciple X asked another question, ‘Master, then what is marriage?’
Master: Same rules and laws applicable, but you have to choose the tallest bamboo tree from the nearby forest.
Disciple X immediately overlooked the eastern side of the forest and started cutting the first bamboo tree. When the great zen master asked why he didn’t went inside the forest to see if there are any other tallest tree than what he had. Disciple humbly said, ‘master, this time I don’t want to return in empty hands and not interested to hunt for the best to get disappointment. So I cut the first tallest tree I saw in the forest. Great zen guru said, ‘X this is called as marriage’.
Moral:
  • We always find our interviews between two different things. To see more candidates on finding the best and get disappointed at last or selecting the average candidate whom we see at first.
  • The selection process should not be dragged and the best candidates won’t wait for our feedback till we are in the process of finding the best.

Courtesy: Hirington.com

Angry as a CommonMan


Yesterday I booked tickets for the movie 180 at AGS Cinemas, Navalur… We were at the Perengudi toll by 9.30 PM & 1 way toll costs Rs.19… When I gave him Rs.20 the person in the counter asked me to collect the balance next day… That puzzled me as how can I collect the balance next day as I had no proof to claim… But as a commonman I igneored it as it is just Re.1… But I wondered inside;

Why on the earth the Toll company hasn’t rounded the tariff as Rs.20??

After watching the movie we went to Shollinganallur toll to exit by 1.15 AM… We were asked to pay again as the toll time gets over by 12 AM… I got annoyed as how come someone get a toll for just 3 hours… But to my surprise it is all well written in the toll receipt and I had to pay again…

That moment I got annoyed at me as I didn’t take the initiative to read the toll receipt… Then I thought why I ignored Re.1 which had to be paid back.. Why I’m not taking the initiative to write petitions, use RTI (Right to information) to understand how system works & why i’m not fighting for a cause…

The concern was not loosing Rs.20. or Re.1.. It is why there is no professionalism;

  • Why didn’t they have a change to give back as they very well know everyone cant carry Rs.19…
  • Why didn’t they round the fare to Rs.20?
  • Concept of cutting their timing by 12 AM sounds irrational…

I’m fed up of showering my frustration as blogs & ignoring issues… Now I’m on my way to Perengudi toll to collect information & I’ve decided to take them if there are exploitation of the common man…

Why indians are smart??


Three contractors are bidding to fix a broken fence at the White House in Washington D.C. One from Bangladesh , another from India and the third, from China.

They go with a White House office to examine the fence.

The Bangladesh contractor takes out a tape measure and does some measuring, then works some figures with a pencil. “Well”, he says, “I figure the job will run about $900. ($400 for materials, $400 for my team and $100 profit for me)”.

The Chinese contractor also does some measuring and figuring, then says, “I can do this job for $700. ($300 for materials, $300 for my team and $100 profit for me)”.

The Indian contractor doesn’t measure or figure, but leans over to the White House official and whispers, “$2,700.”

The official, outraged says, “You didn’t even measure like the other guys! How did you come up with such a high figure?”

The Indian contractor whispers back, “$1000 for me, $1000 for you, and we hire the guy from China to fix the fence.”

“Done!” replies the government official…

The Inner Peace


Just came out after watching the movie Kung Fu Panda II… The movie gave me a lot of answers for a lot of questions… I was able to draw lot of parallels from the movie… One such thing was the Panda – the dragon warrior (PO) searching & finding his Inner Peace…

Though the movie sounds comical it had lots of take away… I find my inner peace in being myself… I hate leading a fake life for pleasing others… I was happy to experience my inner self immediately after coming out of the movie…

It rained heavily outside & I went out an sat on the corridor floor when the whole bunch of visitors were standing… After my initiative a lot others started sitting on the floor… That moment I felt like a leader thought it sounded crazy…

That particular incident made me live the way I liked… When I came down I started my scooter & I was driving crazy on the basements bumpy floor… The child in me was out…

Then it was a fun ride… I wore my rain coat to avoid getting wet… My friend was mocking me that rain stopped and I got fooled by nature… But again our crazy four wheeler riders help be laugh back at him… They drove at a speed that they splashed all the stagnated water on us… I didn’t get angry as I got an opportunity to laugh back at my friend…

Overall I learned what Inner Peace is… I experience my Inner Peace… I thank Kung Fu Panda’s Master Shifu for explaining what Inner Peace is….